What is Whistler’s Greatest Icon?
Jack Crompton as Jeanie the Bear at last year's Icon Gone. What heights will this year's competitors go to?
Icon [AHY-kon] noun: A person, place or thing of great cultural significance.
Icon Gone [AHY-kon gon] event: A no-holds-barred critical-thinking cage match to determine Whistler‘s greatest icon.
Tailor-made for a town with as quirky and contested a history as Whistler, Icon Gone is a raucous community celebration that pits passionate, outspoken locals against each other in a rhetorical joust to determine Whistler’s greatest historical icons.
It’s all going down this Wednesday at Merlin’s, itself an iconic Whistler watering hole. An atmosphere (and the carpets too I guess) drenched in decades of epic apres sessions will provide the perfect setting for 8 impassioned Whistlerites to get on stage and debate on behalf of their chosen icon.
Just who are these Icon Goners? Well, we’re pretty excited because we have a full array of prominent, knowledgeable, and charismatic long-time locals who are sure to out on a great show:
Michel Beaudry
Mandy Rousseau
Angie Nolan (defending champ)
Stephen Vogler (inaugural champ)
Steve Andrews
G.D. Maxwell
Emily Wood
Kevin “Big Kev” Mikkelsen
We’ve got actors, writers, and all sorts of other creative folk. Who or what their specific icons are we’ll leave as a surprise, but suffice to say there are some great choices, and a few tricks up their sleeves.
Once again, Mo Douglas will be keeping things rolling as our wonderful MC, and we’ve got Whistler Question editor Tanya Foubert, and Whistler Museum President John “Bushrat” Hetherington joining you, our audience, as the esteemed judging panel. It all adds up to one solid night of entertainment, and you;ll probably learn a thing or two as well!
Angie Nolan, assisted by Cathie Coyle, waxes nostalgic about the beloved Boot Pub.
Icons—our shared experiences, cherished landmarks, and beloved neighbours—are the essence of our shared identity, the difference between a collection of people and a real community. So what are Whistler’s greatest icons? Is it Black Tusk? Opening day gondola line-ups? Your favourite local visionary or eccentric? Or is it some under-appreciated yet essential element of our social fabric? Come with an opinion, and come prepared to laugh, cheer, maybe even cry at one of the few events that can truly claim to be “history in the making.”
We’ll leave you with a clip from last year’s event, as Jamie Bond (Gaper Day) and Angie Nolan (The Boot Pub) faced for the evening’s final showdown.
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Wednesday, March 6th, at MERLIN’S BAR & GRILL
Advanced tickets: $10 at Whistler Museum (4333 Main Street, or call 604.932.2019)
Tickets at door: $15
